Keeper

It's taken at least an hour to get rid of my pounding headache this morning. The youngest of the blessings, who will affectionately be referred to as The Surprise for the duration of this blog, was up most of the evening, night, early morning screaming. His only comfort and solace was to nurse throughout the night, quite violently.

Later in the morning, I drive to my weekly Bible study, eager to just be there and learn. I am able to be renewed and refreshed every week. I gather there and I can be encouraged by women of wisdom. On the way, I pop in "Mommy's Song," also known as Sacred. My blessings know it almost by heart and sing it nearly perfect. This morning, again like the countless times I have relied on it before, it reminds me that My Father, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, has named me Keeper of these little ones. Wow! What a title. What a job. I am Keeper of even The Surprise... Emma asks to hear it again and again. I have to nearly bite the inside of my lip the third time. I can no longer sing along. I am overcome with emotion, as I listen: Everything is sacred... Everything I've dreamed of, has been right before my eyes...

During Bible study, Will, oops, The Surprise, sits clinging to my chest in his sling. He is cranky (you, think?) and restless. I know he needs sleep. I bounce. I stand. And then, I sing the song I have sung to him for almost a year now: Oh, how He loves you and me... He doses off quickly, breathing into me, snuggling close and secure in his Keeper's and His Father's warmth. How quickly I have forgotten that my sweet Surprise is sacred. He, along with Emma and Jack, is what I longed for when Roy and I were first married. How desperately I wanted to quickly expand our family. Of course, I didn't think about the headaches, the heartaches, the sleep deprivation, the insanity at the time- but would I have proceeded? Probably not. But I am here now. This is my life. And the Lord God Almighty has made me there Keeper for this short brief time while they are young. What a task! What an honor! I will cling to this title today.

Our Lake

We are staying again at one of my favorite places (so far) on this earth. I actually call it mine, and quite proudly, maybe a little arrogantly, reminding my children many times that I share it with them. The fact is though, it is ours. That's the benefit of being children of The King...

Every moment my children walk through these surroundings is absolutely picturesque. No words or camera could ever capture the trueness of the moments here. Jack walks through the wood chips with his Dorothy on his shoulders, trees surrounding him on all sides, the air clear & brisk; Emma teaches her caught crawdads sweet tricks; Will army crawls everywhere through the dirt, eager to explore; I have to freeze these moments in my mind.

The Lake is cold, more so than usual. Returning to it's beaches, our hair whips every which way in the winds. It doesn't hinder the children from enjoying it's brilliance. Emma dons her bathing suit and teases the water's edge with her feet. Jack runs and throws rocks, watching each splash. Cooper even manages to visit the water with his front paws... Only Will huddles against my chest in the sling, occasionally looking up to see his family play.

We spend the afternoon hiking through the meadow and into the hill. The afternoon sun reveals thousands of bugs and lint from the top of the grass dancing through the sky. It looks like fairies frolicking among us. Birds swoop down to eat their dinner and dragonflies buzz by our heads. Auntie teases us, as we pause to capture the moment- we apparently resemble the Ingles... We head farther into the trees, Jack & Emma each carry their walking sticks and bags of treasures- pine cones, rocks, fallen pine needles. They watch their Uncle Ken in awe, as he breaks apart fallen trees with his feet. Jack kicks at the tree, with such a look of determination. Emma prods with her stick. They can remain in this space, prying at the tree for so long, we have to convince them to move on. Later Emma will beg her Papa to take hiking again! in the forest.

We are now huddled in bed, snuggled against each of our blessings for warmth. Their feet, knees, hands & faces have been scrubbed. Roy sings quietly off-key You are My Sunshine into Jack's fat head. In our very small space, I whisper into Emma's ear: What if we had to live in a place this small? She responds quickly: I wouldn't care at all! Neither would I...